Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) has reported that at least 26 people were killed during an intensive Israeli heliborne operation and subsequent clashes in the Bekaa Valley town of Nabi Chit in the early hours of Saturday.
The operation began with a massive aerial bombardment targeting a strategic Hezbollah stronghold near the Syrian border.
According to the NNA, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted 13 “violent” airstrikes on the center and outskirts of the town, which Lebanese officials characterized as a “diversionary tactic” intended to mask the arrival of ground forces.
Heliborne incursion
Local reports indicate that four Apache helicopters executed a tactical drop in the rugged terrain of the Eastern Lebanon Mountain Range.
The commando unit reportedly landed in a mountainous triangle between the villages of Al-Khraiba, Maaraboun, and Yahfoufa before infiltrating toward the Al-Shukr cemetery in the eastern district of Nabi Chit under the cover of darkness.
Upon being detected by local residents and Hezbollah fighters, heavy clashes erupted involving light and medium weaponry.
While the NNA described the incident as a “massacre” of civilians, security sources noted that the casualties included three Lebanese Army soldiers and one member of the internal security forces.
The search for Ron Arad
While the IDF has maintained official silence regarding the specifics of the raid, regional media outlets—including Saudi-owned Al-Hadath—suggested the high-risk operation was aimed at recovering the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator missing since 1986.
The raid marks one of the deepest Israeli ground incursions into Lebanese territory since the regional conflict escalated following the February 28 assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
